Drone tech slashes TB patient costs from Rs 9,451 to Rs 91: AIIMS Bibinagar–ICMR study

Researchers from AIIMS Bibinagar and ICMR demonstrated that drones can drastically reduce costs and delays in TB diagnosis and treatment in Yadadri-Bhongir district. The study showed patient expenses dropped from Rs 9,451 to Rs 90.90, while turnaround time for test results fell from 15 days to 5 days.

Hyderabad: In a field-tested model, implemented in Yadadri-Bhongir district with a potential to be replicated throughout the country, researchers from AIIMS, Bibinagar and ICMR have demonstrated multiple health and economic benefits to patients by integrating drone technology with rural diagnostic health networks.

Following a year-long evaluation under the ICMR i-DRONE initiative at Yadadri-Bhongir district, results that were published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Open and Digital Health) in 2026, the researchers proved that deploying drones to transport medical samples and drugs can act as an aggressive tool for treatment and poverty alleviation.

---

The study data revealed that a patient’s average pre-treatment Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) dropped from Rs 9,451 to just Rs 90.90.

The study tracked 840 individuals across two distinct operational timelines, which included the normal ground transport phase (206 patients) and later a tech-driven drone transport phase (634 patients).

Under the old system, a patient with TB symptoms in areas linked to PHCs, faced tough logistics. The sputum samples of such patients were transported in manual couriers over bad rods and tough terrain to district TB hospitals, which are equipped with advanced testing equipment. If a sample degraded in transit or a vehicle wasn’t available, the entire diagnostic system stalled.

Poor patients were forced to make multiple trips by auto/bus to urban hubs to track down their results or collect initial medication. When factoring in travel times, the mandatory requirement of paying for an accompanying family member, meals on the road and critically the loss of daily wages for every day spent away from work, the bill to avail a free government-run diagnosis crossed Rs 9,400.

However, by utilising drone technology, the researchers established a high-speed hub-and-spoke system. When a patient shows symptoms at a local village sub-centre, a local healthcare worker collects the sputum specimen. A drone is deployed from the central hub, picks up the sample, and zips over forest tree lines directly to the central diagnostic facility in minutes, bypassing slower intermediate designated microscopy centers entirely. On its return flight, the drone carries vital anti-TB prescription regimens back to the village.

The study found that the Median Turnaround Time (TAT), the vital window between a patient handing over a sample and receiving a definitive result to begin treatment, was slashed from 15 days down to just 5 days.

 

Important points:

• Out of pocket expenditure for patients before drones was Rs 9, 450
• After drones, the out of pocket expense dropped to Rs 90.90
• Time to get patient diagnostic results dropped from 15 days to 5 days
• TB diagnosis improved in the remote rural establishments
• AIIMS Bibinagar was the command centre
• District TB centre was connected to 4 TB Units and 11 PHCs
• All were covered through drone interventions